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Monthly Archives: December 2012

A group of ten Golden Retrievers made the trip from the Chicago area to Newtown, Connecticut over the weekend to provide some measure of comfort to survivors and families affected by the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School last Friday. These dogs are part of a group called the K-9 Comfort Dogs and they are from the Lutheran Church Charities organization in Illinois. I think these dogs are doing a great thing, and I really appreciate the individuals involved with providing this incredible source of strength during a time like this that’s beyond words.

And it’s time to get to work–

Here is text from an article from the Chicago Tribune (or you can use this link):

A team of golden retrievers made an 800-mile journey from the Chicago area to Newtown, Conn., over the weekend to comfort those affected by the recent school massacre.

Lutheran Church Charities deployed about 10 of the canines Saturday evening for residents who want to pet them while they talk or pray with the dog’s handler, said Tim Hetzner, president of the Addison-based organization.

“Dogs are non-judgmental. They are loving. They are accepting of anyone,” Hetzner said. “It creates the atmosphere for people to share.”

When the charities’ dogs are not responding to a national tragedy, they will often visit people in hospitals, nursing homes and parks. Each dog carries a business card with its name, Facebook page, twitter account and email so those that meet the canine can keep in touch

“The dogs have become the bridge,” said Lynn Buhrke, 66, who is a dog handler for a female golden retriever named Chewie. “People just sit down and talk to you.”

The dogs’ first stop Sunday in Newtown was Christ the King Lutheran Church, which is holding two funerals this week for two children who were slain during the shooting, Hetzner said.

“You could tell which ones …were really struggling with their grief because they were quiet,” Hetzner said. “They would pet the dog, and they would just be quiet.”

The dogs have been helpful even to those without children in Sandy Hook Elementary School, where the massacre occurred Friday, organizers said.

“I asked (one man) how he is doing. He just kind of teared up and said: ”This year, I’ve lost five loved ones and now this happened,’ “ Hetzner said. ”The whole town is suffering.“

The comfort-dog initiative first started in 2008 at Northern Illinois University after a gunman killed five students. A group of dog caretakers associated with Lutheran Church Charities trekked to campus in hopes of providing a distraction to the student community.

The trip was so successful that weeks later students petitioned university leadership to bring comfort dogs back to campus, Hetzner said.

The initiative has grown from a handful of dogs in the Chicago area to 60 dogs in six different states, he said.

Since then, the dogs have traveled across the nation to comfort people in the aftermath of major tragedies such as, Hurricane Sandy, and the tornado that hit Joplin, Mo.

On Monday, the dogs plan to be with Sandy Hook students for after-school activities, Hetzner said.

”There are a lot of people that are hurting,“ he said. It’s ”good for the children to have something that is not the shooting.“

All images courtesy of Lutheran Church Charities. For more information on this group or the K-9 Comfort Dogs, click here.

In keeping with my last architecture-themed post I wanted to share this. A few years back I saw a mention for these great dog blueprints from the Animal Blueprint Company in a home decor magazine (Elle Decor? The now defunct Met Home? Who knows!). As they are described on their website: “a distressed finish gives this animal art print the feel of working blueprints used by architects, engineers and construction supervisors of the mid 20th century.” Cool.

I think they’re really great, and of course what caught my eye was that they featured one from the Mutt Series of 20 (hooray for mutts!). Each print includes a drawing of a dog with some call-outs highlighted, then a breakdown of history and attributes under “Construction Notes”, such as:Breed: American MuttOrigin: Local Shelter, Friend or NeighborHistory: Rescued by those who care! While a mutt does not come with a breeder’s certificate, they are known to demonstrate all the best traits of their various breeds, making the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
The great American family dog. Mother may have been a bit of a lady, father a bit of a tramp. Perhaps part Shepherd, Collie, Retriever, Spaniel, Husky or none of these, no one knows for sure. The love of a rescued dog is without boundaries and touches all those in its reach, often transforming the rescuee into the rescuer…

The text goes on to describe attributes such as coat, color, height and weight…of course without really being able to provide any definitive information at all! And isn’t that also a reason why mutts are so awesome? I’m guessing these Animal Blueprint Company folks have a sense of humor, stamping each print with “Canine Architect: I.M. Paws” (I.M. Pei, haha). Okay.

They also have tons of purebred dog blueprints with factual information, here are a few of them. Oh, and there are cat breeds and a few horses available, too.

You can order their prints framed or just matted, and I just saw that if you order by TODAY (December 17) you can still give one for Christmas this year. Maybe this idea will be perfect for that tricky someone on your list, or even yourself.

PS: I should probably add here that products and books that I feature on my blog are just things that I like, not revenue-generators. And when it’s a designer (like me) being an entrepreneur (like me) AND I like what they’re creating, it’s definitely the trifecta!

UPDATE: Not good news, folks. I checked with Westside German Shepherd Rescue today and discovered that the group did indeed lose their funding and so now they’ve lost this beautiful facility. I’m leaving the post up because it’s still a beautifully designed space, but more importantly because WGSR is an amazing and dedicated group that deserves attention. And even more important than that, this development serves as a reminder just how delicate budgets are for rescue groups. If you’re thinking about donating money this year as holiday gifts, please consider a shelter or rescue organization. :-)

So it turns out there’s something else that makes everything better, and that something else is DESIGN! I’m not only saying this because I am a designer, but also because it’s true. And, in my opinion, one of the areas where design really moves mountains is when it’s applied to projects that are typically mundane and just a little too darn utilitarian. Case in point: the beautiful new design for Westside German Shepherd Rescue in Los Angeles, designed by RA-DA. Instead of a sad, depressing shelter, they’ve created a comfortable and beautiful environment with a Cape Cod flavor for some special guests while they get ready for their new homes. Of course dogs love comfort, but if you’re thinking that dogs don’t care about beautiful environments, think again: if it means a shelter is more inviting to potential new families, I think they’re all for it!

As RA-DA states about the project: “This project reconceptualizes the environment surrounding the adoption of pets. Replacing the concept of adoption is an idea of ‘re-homing’. With this term comes the implication that these animals are well-adjusted and just going from one home to another home. The design responds directly to this and although the site is in an industrial area, the architecture is more residential from the exterior siding to the interior design. Past the front lobby area is a gallery that is designed to resemble an outdoor boardwalk. The kennel rooms line the edges of this boardwalk as a series of separate ‘houses’. A training yard at the end and large doors connect the space to the back of the property, used every day for exercising the dogs and on Saturdays for adoption events.”

So big high-fives to RA-DA for designing such a beautiful stopover home for German Shepherds on the move, and also for just using their design power for good!

If you’d like more information on Westside German Shepherd Rescue, click here. There’s also a wonderful video about this rescue organization and its founder Robin here.
For more information on the West Hollywood-based architecture firm RA-DA or to see more of their stunning work (which includes some other animal facility projects–yay!), click here.

This past weekend in California, a major undertaking took place: the airlift of hundreds of dogs from overcrowded shelters in Los Angeles to the Pacific Northwest where there’s apparently a shortage of adoptable dogs (nice to hear that’s the case in a few places). The group that’s in the pilot’s seat, so to speak, is Wings of Rescue, a volunteer network of kind-hearted folks that are dedicated to flying adoptable dogs from point A to point B. According to the spokeswoman in the interview, they’ve saved 5000 dogs in the last 18 months alone!

“Dogs going to Olympia, Washington!” “All of those going to Hillsborough!” The video from NBC Nightly News is a flurry of activity: shouted destinations, happy goodbyes, crates being loaded, happy volunteers working like Santa’s elves, and also a lot of twinkling doggy eyes as they get ready to take off.

This story appeals to me for a few reasons: saving dogs of course, but also the southern California connection (because that’s where I’m from) and aviation’s role (my family tree is full of aircraft-related careers). It’s definitely one of those feel-good stories that just makes you applaud humanity. For me, it’s a well-rounded gush of love, pride and gratitude.

The story mentions specifically the case of Sedona, shown below, who was saved on the day she was scheduled to be euthanized at a shelter. Instead, she’s greeted by her new owner in Oregon who says the perfect thing: “This is like Christmas morning!” I’ve watched the video about 10 times now and that’s where the lump-in-the-throat hits.

If you’d like to watch the video, please do so! You can find it here. It’s really worth it, and they have a nice segue to the piece by showing the Obama’s 2012 Christmas card featuring their dog Bo at the White House in the snow. The idyllic image serves as a great reminder that the only thing that separates dogs languishing in shelters from dogs in loving homes is action. Happy holidays, Wings of Rescue!

If you’d like to volunteer or donate to Wings of Rescue, you can find the information here.

Well, it’s that time of year. Stomachs in knots, heads pounding, biting of nails. That stressful, anxiety-ridden period full of late nights, giant coffees and panic in general. I’m not talking about the holidays, this is something entirely different…(cue the scary music)…it’s the dreaded end of semester exams (and now the screams). Actually, since I attended design school rather than traditional college, it would instead be…the dreaded end of semester critiques…the horrors!

It looks like at least one school has a great plan in place this week to help students cope: dogs on campus to provide a stress-relieving break, of course. Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia has arranged a doggy lineup that includes the following cast of characters: a Labradoodle, a Sheltie, a Golden Retriever, a Papillon, a St. Bernard and a Dalmatian, courtesy of the Therapeutic Paws for Canada program. Very clever idea! They’re helping to make them smarter, too!